Avatar News October 18, 2007

Planning Christmas Promotions

With only 68 days until Christmas Day, it's time to think about your Christmas promotions. If you want to minimise advertising, print and postage costs with an online campaign this year, you may need to think about:

• What your Christmas email or campaign will consist of (Christmas cards or games for example)
• Your budget and schedule
• Your mailing lists and mailing software (see Rocket Mailing)
• Short-term search engine advertising.

Tidbits

• Avatars doing the living for us? Creators of Second Life (a virtual world in which people 'live' a virtual life) and computer giants, IBM, have joined forces to create universal avatars, which can travel seamlessly between different virtual worlds.
• Searching by the billion. Global Internet information provider, comScore reports that over 61 billion searches were conducted worldwide in August 2007. Over 37.1 billion searches were made on Google sites alone, including over 5 billion on YouTube.com.
• Spacebucks for interplanetary coffees. What a relief to find out that space travellers will be able to stock up essentials such as freeze dried food, moon boots and flags by getting cashed up with a few quid (Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination).
• Maori domain names in NZ Web space. With some countries implementing Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs), which allow the use of virtually any internationally recognised characters, the Domain Name Commission is seeking comments on the implementation of IDNs into the .nz domain name space.
• Kick around in Google's playground. Tell Google what you think of some of its development projects such as Accessible Search, Web search for the visually impaired and Google Ride Finder, online search for the nearest taxi cab.
• Plan your holiday reading. If you're stuck for ideas on what book to read next, "What should I read next?" may have some useful suggestions for you.
• Teeny, tiny tellies. Some of us still remember the days of black-and-white television and fighting over who had to get up and change channels, but yes, it's so last century. The latest televisual treat from Sony is just 3mm thick.
• What do your photos say about you? The Buttafly Guide offers some interpretations of common photo styles used as online avatars. Sometimes it pays to do a straightforward portrait shot...

Sites of Interest

Here's a selection of projects we've worked on recently...

• Fabric House (Web design, development and promotion)
  This e-commerce site was designed to showcase and market Fabric House's range of designer upholstery and curtain fabrics. The online shop has been built using Avatar-developed Rocket Cart software and features easy to use administration and clear 'shopping' instructions for site visitors.
• Rocket Florist Gifts & Flowers Directory (Web design, development and promotion)
  This brand new look for the Rocket Florist directory has been created in a CMS style Web site, which offers information and listings for gifts shops and florists worldwide. The site also features gift ideas, poll, gift calendars, on-site search and add a site functionality.
• Stonehurst Accommodation (Web design, development and promotion)
  Working to a very specific brief from Stonehurst, we created a CMS style Web site that incorporated different colour templates to help market the four distinct types of accommodation offered. The site features clear calls to action, easy to follow navigation and a design that ties in closely with Stonehurst's branding.
• Molesworth Tours (Web promotion)
  Sightseeing tours specialist in Marlborough offering high country adventure, whale watching, cycling, winery and heli-fishing trips.
• The Sanctuary (Web writing)
  Bunkhouse accommodation in Arthur's Pass for trampers, backpackers, groups and casual visitors.